Article: Duffey Presents Pleasant Dilemma For Twins

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

In 2015 he was pitching after the roster expansion, no? So against a mix of AAA and major league players?

Not really, the roster expansion is rarely a stark dividing line for most teams and positions.  Duffey faced pretty much regular lineups over his 10 starts that year.

[kab21]

 

Not really, the roster expansion is rarely a stark dividing line for most teams and positions.  Duffey faced pretty much regular lineups over his 10 starts that year.

But the point that should be made about this is that Duffey was a solid MiLB'er that came almost out of nowhere and teams didn't have great scouting reports like Brock says.

 

They came back in 2016 with that information and Duffey couldn't adjust. It doesn't really matter if he has two different curveballs and even a changeup if hitters don't respect his fastball.

 

I don't think it is set in stone that he can't succeed as a starter but all signs point to his pitch repertoire being much better suited to the bullpen. If what people say is true (smarter than I about pitching) then I don't see much reason to stretch him out and risk not getting anything out of him. At this point in his career I want to get something out of him instead of him being cut due to another lackluster year.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

But the point that should be made about this is that Duffey was a solid MiLB'er that came almost out of nowhere and teams didn't have great scouting reports like Brock says.

I don't know if I'd say he came out of nowhere.  It's not like he skipped the upper minors or came straight from Cuba or Japan.

 

His worst start that year was his MLB debut.  His last two starts that year were against teams he previously faced, and he did just fine.  Neither of those facts fit neatly into a "lack of scouting report" theory.  He also started 2016 with 4 solid starts in MLB, 3 of which came against teams he previously faced in 2015 (with 2 of those coming against the teams he faced twice in 2015).

 

It's worth noting that Duffey was dealing in 2015, minors and majors, to an extent that he had never done previously or since.  Even before his MLB debut, his 2015 minor league marks of 0.1 HR/9, 7.8 H/9, and 8.0 K/9 were all career bests.

 

I suspect that, like many other players, he has difficulty executing and repeating his best approach.  I'd like to see him get a bit more of a chance to try as a starter, although I am certainly not closing the book on him in relief -- he's 26 years old with 2 option years left, there is plenty of time to get back to a relief role if need be.

Edited April 21, 2017 by spycake

[kab21]

 

I don't know if I'd say he came out of nowhere.  It's not like he skipped the upper minors or came straight from Cuba or Japan.

 

His worst start that year was his MLB debut.  His last two starts that year were against teams he previously faced, and he did just fine.  Neither of those facts fit neatly into a "lack of scouting report" theory.  He also started 2016 with 4 solid starts in MLB, 3 of which came against teams he previously faced in 2015 (with 2 of those coming against the teams he faced twice in 2015).

 

It's worth noting that Duffey was dealing in 2015, minors and majors, to an extent that he had never done previously or since.  Even before his MLB debut, his 2015 minor league marks of 0.1 HR/9, 7.8 H/9, and 8.0 K/9 were all career bests.

 

I suspect that, like many other players, he has difficulty executing and repeating his best approach.  I'd like to see him get a bit more of a chance to try as a starter, although I am certainly not closing the book on him in relief -- he's 26 years old with 2 option years left, there is plenty of time to get back to a relief role if need be.

He was nowhere near a top 100 list and was outside of Sickels' top 20 (but a sleeper alert). #20 at Twinkie Town and #16 on this site. That is pretty much out of nowhere for prospects during a season. The amount of information distributed to hitters was exponentially better the following season after he had 10 great starts and was getting talked about.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

He was nowhere near a top 100 list and was outside of Sickels' top 20 (but a sleeper alert). #20 at Twinkie Town and #16 on this site. That is pretty much out of nowhere for prospects during a season. The amount of information distributed to hitters was exponentially better the following season after he had 10 great starts and was getting talked about.

I am sure there was some more/better info and video later, but I'm not sure it's that huge of a difference in modern MLB.  It might be a factor, but it might be a fairly minor one compared to the larger simple variances in player's approach/execution.

[wabene]

 

But the point that should be made about this is that Duffey was a solid MiLB'er that came almost out of nowhere and teams didn't have great scouting reports like Brock says.

 

They came back in 2016 with that information and Duffey couldn't adjust. It doesn't really matter if he has two different curveballs and even a changeup if hitters don't respect his fastball.

IF this were true how could he be good in the pen?

[kab21]

 

IF this were true how could he be good in the pen?

They only see him once/game and his fastball is 1.7 mph faster this year and might be an okay pitch now. It is quite common for starters with limited pitches and mediocre fastballs to become very good in the bullpen. For example Glen Perkins.